Branches of Life

"Get up!" An annoying voice said way too fucking loud in my ear, roughly shaking my shoulder. Groaning, I blindly swatted around, hoping to make contact. Instead, the annoying bitch smacked my flailing arm. The person trying to force me out of the blissful arms of sleep, sighed noisily, before shoving me off the bed. Where the left side of my body slammed into the hard-ass floor, effectively waking me.

"What the fuck?" I lay on my back groaning, looking up at Ari's smiling face peering down from the bed. She laughed and dodged all my attempts at hitting her. Rolling out of my reach when I sat up. "I hate when you do that."

Shit like this was the reason why Ari should've never been the one to wake me. Especially those times she was feeling creative. Although nothing could ever beat the time she dragged me to the bathroom and dunked me in a tub full of ice water.

Ari rolled to her feet on the other side of the bed, cackling like a maniac. "It's not my fault you sleep like the dead." Her grin slipped from her face and a serious expression took its place. "Wyatt knows where the rift is. We're leaving in a couple of minutes." She lifted my bag from its place on the floor and onto the bed.

"Do we get to know where we're headed?" I dug through my bag, pulling out a pair of jeans, undergarments, a long-sleeved black shirt, and a tank top. I learned my lesson last night; don't wear light-colored clothing when you're at risk of bleeding.

"Antarctica," she said and I groaned at the thought of being in the cold. Especially after nearly freezing to death last night.

Ari left the room, allowing me to change my clothes and braid my hair out of my face. She was leaning against the opposite wall of the hallway when I exited the bedroom, waiting for me.

As we followed the hallway back to the living room, a mixture of excitement and dread buzzed through my body at the thought of seeing Koa again. Sleep hadn't given me clarity like I wished it would. It was way too soon for me to know how to feel about him or what he is to me. The one thing I kept coming back to, was that I knew next to nothing about him. Essentially, all we had between us at this point was pheromones and lust. That wasn't exactly a recipe for a lasting and fulfilling relationship. I didn't even know if he had figured all of this out yet. He probably had no clue.

A sharp pinch to my arm jarred me out of my obsessive thoughts. "Stop. You'll only drive yourself crazy." Somehow she knew I was obsessing, whether or not she read it from my face or just knew me so well, I had no clue. Sighing, I rubbed my arm annoyed by her violent, but effective tactics.

In the living room, everyone was already there, waiting for us. Koa's gaze was on me, feeling like a physical caress brushing over my skin. I tried to keep my focus from the back corner, but I quickly lost the battle. Koa's shoulder was propped against the wall, arms crossed over his chest making his biceps bulge. My stomach clenched when I noticed how his gray t-shirt clung to his torso. When my eyes finally met his, all other noise in the room disappeared and all I could see was him.

Well until Ari smacked my ass and said, "Let's go! We've got a rift to find."

"I hate you," I grumbled, rubbing my stinging ass. She chuckled as she tossed me a thin gray jacket, with iridescent runes lining the sleeves. which allowed the wearer to remain warm without the bulk of a winter coat.

Ander joined us, checking his weapons to make sure they were securely strapped to his body. He shot Ari a knowing smile. "How hard was she to wake?

"She pushed me off the damn bed." I pinned Ander with a glare when he laughed.

"At least she didn't blast music, like last time." Harmony giggled, shuffling through her bag.

I rubbed my ears, remembering the pain. "It took over five minutes for my ears to stop ringing."

A portal appeared in the middle of the room, effectively cutting off all conversations. Wyatt waved at the portal, gesturing for the rest of us to go first. This time Ander was the first one through, with the rest of us following close behind.

Biting wind stung my cheeks and snapped my braid into my face until I pulled up my hood. I jammed my hands into my pockets, regretting not wearing gloves. While my upper body wouldn't get cold due to the jacket, my legs and feet would be a different matter if we stayed out here too long.

The sky was dark with no moon out tonight. A thick blanket of snow was all that was in front of us for miles. Behind us, about half a mile away, was an icy cliff face a few hundred feet. I squinted, trying to find a telltale energy trail for a rift, but found nothing. Nor did I feel any energy skating over my skin, the way I did around the other rifts.

"Is this rift invisible or something?" I asked still looking around, even though I knew it wasn't near.

"I didn't get a chance to examine the rift's magical properties, so it's best not to risk portaling too close." Wyatt's eyes drifted closed as the air shifted and magic rippled the air.

"Please tell me the rift is somewhere out there." I waved my hand at the open expanse of snow. "And not there." I waved my hand at the cliff. "Because I am not wearing gloves, and I hate climbing normal cliffs."

Wyatt studied the cliff for a long minute. "Don't worry, we won't be climbing." My sigh of relief was premature because unfortunately, he continued. "The energy trail leads to a cave." He pointed at the base of the cliff, where supposedly a cave sat, but couldn't be seen from where we stood. I guess we'd just have to trust him on this. It wasn't like we had much of a choice.

Wyatt led the way, while Koa and Starling pulled up the rear. I don't know if it was my imagination or not, but I could feel Koa walking a few feet behind me. I tried focusing on my surroundings instead, but with the lack of scenery other than snow and ice, the tactic quickly failed.

"Maybe we'll be able to get a definitive answer, on whether or not Santa exists." Ari laughed at her lame joke.

"North pole." Ari frowned at Ander's response and he sighed. "The children's stories say he lives in the North Pole."

"So?" She asked, looking at Ander like he was the dumbass.

Ander wiped his hand across his mouth, trying to wipe away his smile. "We're in the South Pole."

"Close enough." Ari shrugged, ignoring the fact that they were nowhere near one another. Even I knew the difference.

"I don't mean to alarm anyone, but there's a small snow leopard following us," Harmony whispered pointing to the right.

We looked in the direction she was pointing, but even with my enhanced sight, I only saw endless snow and darkness.

"I swear it was just there." Harmony's voice took on a higher pitch, the way it did when she was uncomfortable.

I rubbed her back in small and reassuring circles. "We believe you."

"What do you mean by small snow leopard? Like a baby?" Ari asked, focusing on the wrong detail, as always.

Harmony shook her head, pursing her lips. "I don't know if it was a baby, all I know is that it was small."

"How small?" Ari wasn't ready to let this line of questioning go.

"I don't think its size is important." Ander's head swiveled around, as if he was expecting the snow leopard to try and sneak up on us. "I doubt it's a normal cat, no matter what size it is. What normal cat had the ability to disappear? It has to be from another realm."

There wasn't a single moment where any of us doubted what Harmony saw. Nor did we even think to suggest she was seeing things. If she said she saw something, then that's what she saw. That's how it worked for us. We trusted one another's instincts and rarely doubted each other.

I resumed my search for the damn thing. "I'm really not in a mood to be attacked by a cat."

"I don't think we have to worry. It probably was spooked when Harmony spotted it," Ari said.

A silence lulled over us for a couple of minutes. With only the sounds of the snow crunching under our feet and the relentless wind that had my cheeks and nose feeling numb. We had fallen behind Wyatt, the gap that had been only a few feet, was now almost twenty. I knew without looking, that Koa and Starling had drifted away from us. The awareness at the nape of my neck had lessened over the past couple of minutes. I was proven right when I saw them almost thirty feet away. Suspicion weighed on me, as I tried to figure out what they could've been discussing.

While I tried to eavesdrop on the siblings, I overheard Ander and Ari's conversation. "Hey Ari, did you sleep okay? You were thrashing around in your sleep earlier."

"I was?" Ari's brow furrowed as she squinted as if that would help her remember her dream. At Ander's nod, she shrugged. "Huh. I don't remember what I dreamed about."

"You're lucky not to remember. I had a weird dream about pie." Harmony's response had me giving up trying to eavesdrop and snapping my attention to her.

"Well, now you have to share this dream."

We had finally caught up to Wyatt where he waited at the mouth of a narrow cave. I was dubious about whether or not the guys would be able to walk through it without banging their heads on the ceiling. The entrance was maybe three feet across. Just what one would want to walk through when looking for a rift into a possibly dangerous realm. A narrow path, that left no room for fighting if need be.

As we waited for the other two to catch up, Wyatt had his hand pressed against the icy wall with his eyes shut. Electric energy filled the air as he used his magic. The lack of words, hand movements, or charms, spoke of his power and skills as a sorcerer. "I sense no other presence or traps." He glanced at us over his shoulder, his stormy eyes trailing over each of us. "Be on your guard regardless from this point on. And when you are in their realm, do not use any magic or pull energy from your animal, unless the situation is dire." Before any of us could comment or ask any questions, he entered the cave.

"Wait, why can't we use magic?" Ari asked following him into the cave, her voice echoing.

I wasn't surprised by his lack of response, even though it annoyed the shit out of me. While I reluctantly followed behind Ander, who had to duck his head slightly to avoid the ceiling, I pondered over the possible reasons why couldn't use magic in their realm.

The only theory I could come up with that made sense was that the magic of this new realm somehow interfered with ours. Maybe it made our magic act unpredictable and unreliable. It would help if Wyatt actually answered the questions we kept asking during the walk down the tunnel. We tried keeping our voices low, but no matter how softly we spoke, our voices echoed as did our steps and breaths. Eventually, we stopped asking questions. Both because of the lack of answers and because when Wyatt did speak, he told us we were nearing the rift.

My face scrunched in confusion as I tried to sense a shift in the air, but felt nothing out of the ordinary. What the fuck was he talking about? There was no damn rift nearby. Was he leading us into a trap? Were we a bunch of dumbasses?

Before that line of thought could gain any ground, the passageway widened into a large circular room, with a higher ceiling. We all filed into the room, and when I started to walk toward the center, Wyatt's hand shot out and grabbed my arm, pulling me back.

"What the fuck?" I warily regarded Wyatt, pursing my lips at his puzzled expression.

"You may be eager to enter their realm, but it's best to be cautious."

I gave him a bewildered stare as I shook off his hand. His words made zero sense. "What are you talking about?"

His puzzled expression deepened as his eyes scanned my face before going toward the center of the room. "You don't sense the rift?" He shifted his focus to everyone else as variations of no were spoken.

My eyes darted to the center of the room, squinting as if that would help me see or sense the rift. Either he was fucking with us, or all of those years of isolation have caused him to lose his fucking mind.

"I see it," Ari murmured as if talking to herself. Her eyes, near luminescent in the light glowing from the crystal in Wyatt's hand, were pinned to the empty space in the center of the room. Almost like she was in a trance. "I sense a tainted and unnatural energy. It almost feels like death."

"Wait, you're saying there's an actual rift there? He's not crazy?" I asked baffled that there was a rift in the room with us, one that only those two could sense, while the rest of us felt nothing.

Ignoring Wyatt's muttered words, I waited for Ari to pull her attention from the "rift" to me. Her unfocused eyes cleared up as a frown pulled at her expression. "You really can't sense it?"

I bit my lip and shook my head. She turned her focus to Wyatt. "Why can't the others sense it?"

Wyatt dragged his hands down his face, heaving a sigh. "Fuck." He stared down the rift for a couple of moments before swearing again. "You can't use the rift if you can't see it." He mussed his hair as he raked a hand through it.

Fuck indeed.

"But we should be able to access it with the assistance of another Mythic. One that can see said rift," Ander said, leaning back against the wall. Raising a brow as he glanced between Ari and Wyatt.

"Artemis won't be able to take all six of you through, especially a spirit familiar." Wyatt pressed his lips together.

I didn't even attempt hiding my laugh when Ari groaned and glared at Wyatt for using that name, and then at Ander for his use of it earlier. "It's Ari, Alright? Not Artemis."

"Does that mean you'll be joining us?" Starling asked ignoring Ari's outburst.

Wyatt made a few hand gestures until a black bag appeared in a burst of light, landing in his hands. "I guess so."

I held back my sigh of relief at having him join us. He may have been an asshole, but he was useful. He'd been to the realm before and had a better understanding of what to expect.

"You'll have to take three with you. I'll take the others and the familiar. Her energy will be harder to pull through," Wyatt said as he pulled on his bag, and strapped a curved blade to his back beside his bag.

We didn't question him as Ander, Harmony, and I joined Ari in the center of the room, placing our hands on her. She took a deep and long breath, before placing her hand into the open air. All the air was pulled from my lungs when we were yanked into the rift.